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Some properties of Rho-b statistics

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Abstract

This article asseses the utility of Spearman's rho-b in path analyses. First, the performance of rho-based statistics are tested against Kim's criteria. The method works quite well on monotonic data, and under certain circumstances perfect detection of underlying interval structures is possible. Second, problems of implementing multivariate analyses with Spearman statistics are discussed. The simplest procedure is to recode the variables as ranks and to use Pearson algorithms and tests of significance. These are valid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Structural Research Inc., Post Office Box 1106, 02238, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.

    Robert B. Smith

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  1. Robert B. Smith
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Smith, R.B. Some properties of Rho-b statistics. Qual Quant 20, 53–74 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177963

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177963

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